1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-mechanical safety needle guard for preventing inadvertent needle punctures or sticks and for rendering a syringe and needle assembly useless after one use by capping the entire needle with the needle guard by use of a fast acting adhesive contained in the needle guard, and a supporting stand therefor. The combination of needle guard and stand constitute a single handed disposal system, as required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
2. Description of the Prior Art
In light of widespread abuse of syringes and needles by drug addicts and the spread of AIDS associated with the use of or accidental puncture by contaminated needles, the prior inventions proposed syringe and needle assemblies with various safety features. To prevent reuse of discarded disposable syringe and needle assemblies and for preventing inadvertent needle punctures, many types of safety devices have been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,536, to Lemelson, discloses a needle breaking device. Specifically, after using the syringe and needle assembly, a plunger portion of the syringe is taken completely out of the syringe. The head of the plunger has a hole for holding the needle in place during breakage. However, this method or device is not safe, in that the fluid contained within the needle, which may be contaminated, becomes exposed to the person handling the syringe when the plunger is completely pulled out. Moreover, during the breaking process, the needle of the syringe may shatter, generating fragments which can stick the user and expose the user to potentially bio-hazardous material.
A second embodiment of the Lemelson patent discloses a sheath for encapsulating the needle by taking the plunger off the syringe and placing it over the needle. Again, because the plunger has to be taken off the syringe, contaminated fluid in the needle can expose the user. Furthermore, this device does not disable the syringe, as the plunger can be placed back into the syringe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,246, to Ikeda discloses a cap for enclosing a needle portion of a sampling blood collector. The cap contains a seal material which is placed over the tip of the needle after it is used. However, Ikeda does not offer sufficient protection against subsequent accidents, because the cap can easily be pulled off.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,735,311, to Lowe, et al., is substantially similar to Ikeda, except that the Lowe patent relates to a syringe. A cap is used in the identical manner as the Ikeda patent to seal the needle and to prevent an inadvertent needle puncture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,170, to Haber, et al., discloses a syringe assembly for preventing an accidental needle puncture and for rendering the syringe inoperable. Specifically, the entire needle assembly can be pulled into the syringe body. The plunger is then pushed directly into the needle portion until the needle completely embeds into the plunger. While this device completely disables the syringe and prevents an accidental needle puncture, once disabled, the shortcoming of this patent is that it cannot be used in conventional syringe and needle assemblies. On the other hand, the present invention is related to a protective sheath which can be used on any conventional assembly by simply capping the needle with the sheath, as opposed to the elaborate steps required by Haber. Also, the steps required in the Haber patent to disable the syringe may, in some instances be to complicated for ordinary individuals to follow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,536, to Chen, discloses a syringe cap for disabling the syringe after one use. Specifically, a plug at the tip of the cap is slidable along the inner surface of the cap. By pushing in the plug, the needle will engage the tip portion of the needle to puncture the plug. The pulling the plunger causes adhesive contained within the plug to flow into the needle, thereby disabling the needle when the adhesive sets. The Chen patent has two drawbacks. First, the plug is easily pushed into the needle. Even a slight, inadvertent, push can cause the plug to engage the needle. The Chen patent provides no adequate measures for preventing the plug from being engaged accidentally. Second, the entire cap, along with the plug, can be pulled off, thereby exposing the needle for a possible needle injury. Further, the Chen patent does not provide any means for disabling the syringe portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,295, to Spenser, discloses a sleeve which slides along the outer body syringe surface. When the sleeve is fully extended, the needle is shielded, thereby avoiding an accidental needle puncture. While the sleeve is designed to be permanently locked in the extended safety position, the safety sleeve can be broken with force or can be severed from the syringe, thereby exposing the entire needle. Because the syringe and the needle are not disabled, the syringe and needle can be reused.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,552, to Unger, discloses a safety cap which is hinged to a syringe and needle assembly. When using the assembly, the cap is pivoted away from the needle portion. After using the assembly, the cap is placed back on the needle portion. The cap also includes a block slidably engaged therewith to enable the tip portion of the needle to penetrate the block, thus shielding the needle to prevent an accidental needle puncture. However, the shortcoming of the Unger invention is that the assembly is not disabled. Anyone can remove the cap from the assembly and reuse the assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,345, to Teringo, discloses a non-mechanical locking incapacitation syringe safety needle guard for preventing reuse of a syringe and needle assembly and for preventing an accidental needle puncture. The needle guard has a hollow chamber filled with a liquid adhesive. When the needle portion, luer lock and neck of the syringe are placed in the chamber, the adhesive locks the needle guard permanently to the syringe, thereby disabling the needle portion. Furthermore, the adhesive is drawn into the syringe chamber to lock the plunger of the syringe to the syringe, thereby immobilizing the plunger, rendering the syringe and needle completely useless. The present invention utilizes a two part adhesive, which cures more quickly and solidly than the single part adhesive of Teringo, as well as providing relief grooves to allow the adhesive to flow more freely around the luer lock and hub of the syringe. Furthermore, with the improved bonding of the syringe to the needle guard by the two part adhesive of the present invention, in contrast to Teringo, the present invention does not need to fill the syringe with adhesive, as did the original.
Typically, used syringes and needles are first collected in mass quantities in a secure container, such as a Sharps container. Once collected, they are destroyed or disposed of by one of several methods. For instance, needle choppers, autoclaves and incineration have been used to destroy or dispose of used syringes and needles. However, these methods are not entirely satisfactory, in that the syringes and needle assemblies are not rendered useless immediately after their use. This provides an opportunity for individuals to pilfer syringes and needles during the collection process. By providing a needle guard in the present invention to permanently and immediately render the syringe and needle useless, even if the discarded and disabled syringes and needles are pilfered during collection, they cannot be reused.
With the exception of Teringo, the prior inventions do not provide a non-mechanical device for immediately rendering the syringe and needle completely inoperative by using adhesive in the needle guard. Rather, they require a safety device to be part of the original needle assembly package and are either of a mechanical locking nature or require force to break the needle portion of the syringe. None of the prior inventions encompasses the entire range of safety and permanence of the present invention which renders all functional parts of the syringe completely inoperative in a single handed process, as required by OSHA.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.